This application relates in general to information access and retrieval and more specifically to systems and methods for searching, sorting, and displaying data.
Systems for facilitating access to and display of information are employed in various demanding applications, including Internet-based search engines, enterprise databases, file systems, and so on. Such applications often demand fast and efficient mechanisms for searching data and concisely displaying desired results.
Systems and methods for concisely displaying desired results are particularly important in mobile computing applications, where small screen sizes often limit efficient viewing of large amounts of returned data, e.g., search results. As mobile computing applications advance, larger amounts of data are being accessed with progressively smaller displays, such as displays employed on pocket Personal Computers (pocket PCs), miniature laptops, portable MP3 players, and so on.
For example, a user may employ a mobile-computing device, such as a Web-enabled cellular telephone, to perform an Internet-based search, such as via Google, or to perform another type of search, such as a search of an enterprise database. Unfortunately, accessing desired data may require scouring large lists of returned search results. Such scouring of returned results is particularly problematic when using small display screens. Further refinement of search results may require performing another search with additional criteria, such as by selecting advanced-search options. Unfortunately, accessing advanced search criteria often requires navigating away from previously generated search results, and a user may loose the context of the original search.
Similarly, a user that employs an MP3 player to search for songs on the MP3 player may need to sift through many titles to uncover the desired song, which is particularly problematic when using very small display screens.